Jump-start your business with a podcast

A podcast can you help you expand your audience and your brand

Author:
Kristen Berset-Harris

Published:
12:50 PM EST January 11, 2019

Updated:
1:17 PM EST January 11, 2019

Podcasting has exploded in popularity over the past 2 decades. “Audioblogging” has been around since the 1980s, but podcasting became a term in 2004 with the introduction if the iPod. Podcasting is a combination of the words “iPod” and “Broadcasting”.

In June 2018, Apple confirmed there were over 550,000 podcasts. Today that number is over 630,000.

According to a 2018 report by Edison Research, 44% of the US population has listened to a podcast… that’s 124 million people and that’s up 40% from 2017!

“I started podcasting because I wanted another way to use technology to reach my audience.. I knew they liked to hear from me and I couldn’t always be available in person. When you have a podcast and you have this longevity its proof that you’ve been doing what you’ve been doing for a while and it builds your trust factor and that’s the main thing you have to do to attract new customers. And a podcast can help you do that.”

Traci DeForge is the founder of Produce Your Podcast – a global podcasting production and consulting firm. She says Podcasting is a great way to develop your brand and build your business. Podcasting should definitely be a part of your company or brand’s marketing strategy.

“One of the things that works really well for a podcast for it to be the hub of a marketing strategy. So, for example, if you’re a business owner and you want to publish a book you can create a podcast and have that podcast transcribed for future chapters. It also gives you the opportunity to position yourself as an expert. They give you that connection with your customers and people really like to do business with people they know and they trust. “

Traci and Donna Maria are just 2 of the many female voices in the podcast world. They came together at Hera Hub in Washington, DC to join forces and encourage other women to join them and have their voices heard, too.

“We still need to catch up with the number of podcasts that we are putting our voice too and putting out there. In the recent Edison Research report, women listeners are 6 times higher than male listeners. Seventy-two percent are married and have children and are high income earners. Their listener ship is exploding. One of the highest areas of growth in content categories are kids and family. Thirty percent listen to business focused podcasts. The audience is there.”

Here are Traci’s tips for creating a successful podcast:

The most important first step is to really get clear on "why" you want to do a podcast. If you get clear on the “why”, the rest will fall in place.

It’s important to stay on a consistent schedule when it comes to releasing your podcast episodes.

Audio production quality is key. Apple has over 600,000 podcasts and adding about 8,000 a week so the sound and clarity of your audio is getting more important if you want to rise with the best.

Make sure it is part of your marketing strategy, not your only marketing strategy. You want to share it on social media, embed it on your site and include it in your newsletters.

Just start!! Yes, there are a lot of podcasts out there but the market is not saturated.

And for those of you that think you couldn’t possibly add another thing to your plate, know that producing a podcast has gotten easier thanks to apps that allow you to record right to your phone, or professionals like Traci and Produce Your Podcast that do the production for you and take a lot of your already full plate.